Fuel-feeding- apparatus



Aug. 26, 1924. 1,506,247

f c. H. MARTIN FUEL FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 24. mz3-fY f (juvenfoz Patented Aug. 26, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES H. MARTIN, OF KOLN, MONTANA.

FUEL-FEEDING APPARATUS.

Application filed November 24, 1923-. Serial No. 676,870.

To all whom t 'may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES MARTIN, citi- Zen of the United States, residing at Kolin, in the county of Judith Basin and State of lu'ontana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fuel-Feeding Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

rlhis invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in fuel feeding apparatus for motor vehicles wherein fuel is fed to an engine carburetor of a vehicle by gravity from a tank located rearwardly of the carburetor.

1n motor vehicles having a fuel supply tank located rearwardly of the engine carburetor and from which fuel is adapted to be fed by gravity to the carburetor, the supply often fails when the vehicle is travelling up a steep hill or inclination, especially when the level of the fuel is low in the supply tank. 1t is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide means to insure a positive flow of fuel into the carburetor when the vehicle is travelling up hill and to provide such means in a commercially practical, simplified and durable form.

Other objects will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, and the same consists -in the novel form, combination, and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, shown inl the accompanying drawings and claimed.

1n the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view showing a fuel feeding means constructed in accordance with the present invention and applied to existing parts of a motor vehicle.

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail view, partly in elevation, and partly in longitudinal section, showing details of the check valve construction employed between the main and auxiliary fuel supply pipes and the carburetor intake.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially upon the line 3--3 of Figure 2.

AFigure l is a fragmentary elevational view showing the end of the auxiliary fuel supply pipe which carries the movable valve member of the check valve, and

Figure 5 is a central longitudinal sectional view of said movable member of the check valve.

Referring more in detail to the drawing, 5 indicates the ordinary intake manifold of the motor vehicle engine, while 6 indicates the exhaust manifold thereof, which manifolds, are, in the usual practice, held into engagement with the engine block, (not shown) by means including clamp bars 7 held in place by bolting, as at 8, to the engine block, the intake manifold 5 being connected with the outlet of the usual carburetor 9, which has a fuel intake pipe 10.

In the usual construction, the intake pipe 1() of the carburetor 9 is directly connected with t-he main fuel supply pipe 11 that extends rearwardly and communicates with a main fuel supply tank 12 located rearwardly of the carburetor 9 and at a level normally higher than the level of said carburetor, whereby the fuel will flow by gravity from said tank 12 to the carburetor.

`While the above usual construction operates somewhat satisfactorily under ordinary conditions, it has been found that the supply of fuel to the carburetor will fail when the vehicle is travelling up a steep hill or inclination especially when the level of the fuel within the tank 12 becomes unduly low, at which time the carburetor 9 will be above the level of the fuel in the tank 12. The present invention aims to provide means for overcoming this defect by insuring a constant flow of fuel to the carburetor when the supply from the main supply tank 12 fails under these conditions. Vllhis object is accomplished by a means including a check valve embodying a casing 13 having opposed intake ports 14 and 15 and a lateral depending outlet port 16, the intake port 14e being coupled to the main supply pipe 11, and the intake pipe of the carburetor 9 being coupled to the lateral branch port 16 of said casing 13, as shown clearly in- Figures 1 and 2. r1he main supply pipe 11 extends into the casing' 13 so as to provide a valve seat at its free inner end as indicated at 17, and the forwardly directed intake port is coupled with an auxiliary fuel supply pipe 18 that extends forwardly and communicates with an auxiliary fuel supply tank 19 suitably mounted in front of the carburetor 9 above the level of the latter. As shown clearly in Figures 2 and 4, the adjacent opposed ends ofthe supply pipes 11 and 18 are preferably of frusto conical form and disposed in adjacent spaced relation so that a valve disc 20 may seat against the adjacent end edges of the pipes 11 and 18 under certain conditions as will presently become apparent.

The valve disc 2O forms part of the movable valve member of the check valve that also comprises a tubular stem 21 rigid with lthe disc 20 and mounted for sliding movement axially of the supply pipe 18 by means of a slide bearing or spider 22 suitably fixed in said frame 18 and through which the stem 21'projects. The frusto conical end of the pipe 18 is provided with a circular series of uniformly spaced longitudinal slots as at 23 whereby constant communication is insured between the carburetor intake frame 10 and the pipe 18, even though the valve disc 20 is seated against the end of said pipe 18 as shown in Figure 2. The stem 21 is preferably made of tubular form from sheet metal so as to be of like construction, and cork plugs 24 may be fitted in the ends of the stems 21 as shown in Figure 5 for reinforcing the latter while 'still preserving lightness.

The tank 19 may be mounted as shown in Figure 1, by providing the same with upstanding bracket arms 25, the upper ends of which are rigidly secured to the forward pair of clamp bars 7 by means of the bolts 8 thereof, it being understood that Vthe tank 19 is thus supported at a level normally below the level of the tank 12 as shown in Figure 1.

An'air pipe 26 may communicate with the top of the tank 19 and extend rearwardly to a point beneath the cowl of the motor vehicle for permitting free entrance of air into the tank 19 whereby the iiow of the fuel from said tank will be positively insured when necessary.

In operation, the liquid fuel will iiow in the usual manner from the tank 12 into the carburetor intake pipe 10 for filling the float chamber of said carburetor, and when the machine is travelling substantially upon level ground, the fuel will also flow through the check valve casing 13 and pipe 18 into the auxiliary fuel tank 19 by way of the split 23. The tank 19 is then maintained substantially full of liquid fuel under ordinary operating conditions, while the car* buretor gets itsvsupply continuously through the pipes 10 and 11 from the main supply tank 12, the weight of the fuel and the suction in the supply pipe 10 acting to normally hold the valve disc 2O away from the seat 17 and into engagement with the inner end of the pipe 184 as shown in Figure 2. lVhen the vehicle assumes an inclined position, as occurs when the vehicle is travelling up a steep hill, the fuel in the tank 19 will flow'through the pipe 18 into the casing 13, should the supply through pipe 11 fail. When this takes place, the valve disc 2O is forced against the seat 17 so as to close the end ofthe main supply pipe 11 and fully open the auxiliarysupply pipe 18, thus insuring maximum effect of the engine suction and drawing the fuel from the tank 19 into the carburetor. i/Vhen the vehicle again reaches level ground, the valve will again return to its normal position as shown in Figure 2, and the supply from the main fuel tank 12 will be re-established. VThe above construction is exceedingly simple,

port that is coupled to the carburetor in-` take pipe, an auxiliary fuel supply tank mounted forwardly of the carburetor at a level above the latter and below the level of the main fuel supply tank, and an auxiliary fuel supply pipe connecting said auX- iliary fuel supply tank with the remaining intake port of said check valve casing, the adjacent ends of the main fuel supply pipe and the auxiliary fuel supply pipe project ing into the check valve casing in spaced opposed relation, and a movable valve member mounted within the check valve easing for alternate seating engagement with the ends of the main and auxiliary fuel supply pipes, the inner end of the main fuel supply pipe being imperforate whereby the same is completely closed by said movable valve member when seated against the end of said main fuel supply pipe and the inner end of said auxiliary supply pipe being perforated whereby constantcommunication is provided between the carburetor intake pipe and the auxiliary fuel supply tank in both positions of said movable valve member.

2. In combination with a motor vehicle carburetor having' a fuel intake pipe, and a main fuel supply tank normally disposed rearwardly of and Vabove said carburetor, and having a main fuel supply pipe extending forwardly therefrom, a check valve casing having opposed intake ports, one of which is coupled to said main fuel supply pipe and provided with a lateral outleteport that is coupled to the carburetor intake an auxiliary fuel supply tank mounted forwardly ofthe carburetor-ata level above the latter and below the level ofthe main pipe,

fuel supply tank, an auxiliary fuel supply check valve casing, the adjacent ends of the main fuel supply pipe and the auxiliary fuel supply pipe projecting into the check valve casing in spaced opposed relation, a movable valve member mounted within the check valve casing for alternate seating engagement with the ends of the main and auxiliary fuel supply pipes, the inner end of the main fuel supply pipe being imperforate whereby the same is completely closed by said movable valve member when seated against the end of said main fuel supply pipe and the inner end of said auxiliary supply pipe being perforated whereby constant communication s provided between the carburetor intake pipe and the auxiliary fuel supply tank in both positions of said movable valve member, said movable valve member comprising a disc disposed between adjacent ends of the fuel supply pipes, and having a rigid stem slidably mounted in the inner end of the auxiliary supply pipe.

3. ln combination with a motor vehicle carburetor having a fuel intake pipe, and a main fuel supply tank normally disposed rearwardly of and above said carburetor, and having a main fuel supply pipe extending forwardly therefrom, a check valve casing having opposed intake ports, one of which is coupled to said main fuel supply pipe and provided with a lateral out-- let port that is coupled to the carburetor intake, an auxiliary fuel supply tank mounted forwardly of the carburetor at a level above the latter and below the level of the main fuel supply tank, an auxiliary fuel supply pipe connecting said auxiliary fuel supply tank with the remaining intake port of said check valve casing, the adjacent ends of the main fuel supply pipe and the auxiliary fuel supply pipe projecting into the check valve casing in spaced opposed relation, a movable valve member mounted within the check valve casing for alternate seating engagement with the ends of the main and auxiliary fuel supply pipes, the inner end of the main fuel supply pipe being imperforate whereby the same vis coinpletely closed by said movable valve member when seated against the end of said main fuel supply pipe and the inner end of said auxiliary supply pipe being perforated whereby constant communication is provided between the carburetor intake pipe and the auxiliary fuel supply tank in both positions of said movable valve member, said movable valve member being slidably supported by the auxiliary supply pipe, and the perforations in said auxiliary supply pipe comprising longitudinal slots in the ends of the latter.

In testimony whereof I affix my signa ture.

CHAS. H. MARTIN. 

